Korean Job Discussion Forums

Apple Scruff · Joined: 29 Oct 2003

I'm looking into a position with a school called Pagoda, with subsidiaries including Direct English. Looks very reputable. Any input or first-hand knowledge?

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

I got threads these from the FAQ section.

Here are some threads on white and grey lists.
1. Reputability of Schools
2. The Hagwon Report
3. How accurate are the blacklists?
4. Best Hagwons or Recruiters � Any Advice?
5. Korea Newfie's Ultimate Recruiter List

Try doing a Search of your school. Put the school name in the search field and select the button to Search for all terms. Alternatively, you can check out The Hagwon Report which is an independent website with a lot of information gathered on numerous schools.

CLG

The Man known as The Man

Zed · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Shakedown Street

CLG, why does the search function default to 'any terms' when 'all terms' is so much more useful. It always annoys me to have to click on this every time when it seems it should be a given.

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Direct English makes their ads sound good. I've interviewed at two different branches, and almost left laughing from both interviews.

You work long "split shifts" with them. Your housing reimbursement is very low -- especially since they are located in the richer areas of Seoul. This means you will have to travel far to work if you expect to not be shelling out a bunch of your own cash for housing. In fact, no matter where you live (unless you have roommates) you'll be doing this with them.

Say hello to low pay, little social time, and long commutes.

It just doesn't average out to be a good deal, even though the company is very safe.

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

I worked for Pagoda in 2000.

I wrote all about extensively in one of those links. I liked it. Split shifts suck though, but that was about it. Its adult teaching and I received my own apartment. There locations in Seoul are in some pretty prime spots (Jongno, Kangnam, Apkujung, Shinchon).

Most people who worked in my school stayed there for years and years.. of the 8 of us there.. about 4 had been there for over 4-5 years. I have alot of friends in some of the other Pagodas as well who also worked for them a long time. (I wasn't one of the ones that stayed longterm). But I liked the time that I was there well enough.

On one of those links I described about it in infinite detail (I believe). The almost mandatory split shifts made me feel quite tired most of the time however.. but adult hogwans have those kinds of hours. Might as well be right in the center of Seoul with all of the action if you prefer adults to kids anyways.

Apple Scruff · Joined: 29 Oct 2003

Since posting, I've read several warnings about Pagoda, particularly their split-shift system. Screw that!

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

FierceInvalid · Joined: 16 Mar 2003

Hey Tiger you couldn't shake the splits for a whole year? I heard that at YBM, for example, newbies do their time with the splits but get block shifts after gaining a bit of seniority/experience. I once read that this is usually only around 6 months or so. Only hearsay of course...were the long-termers at Pagoda (4-5yrs like you said) still doing splits?

Tiger Beer · Joined: 07 Feb 2003

I was at a small branch.. so almost everyone except the head teacher and whoever he really liked the most that month, since he did the scheduling.

If you teach at JongNo or the bigger branches.. then you have students coming in all day long at all hours.. and they work more on block hours. Its more location oriented than the name of the school.